Low levels of vitamin B12 in the body can lead to problems with the nervous system and to low iron in the blood. Neuropathy (diseases of the nervous system), alopecia (hair loss), dizziness, and fatigue (feeling tired) may be signs of these conditions.
“Our findings demonstrate that low B12 levels are associated with greater walking and balance problems, possibly due to the known effect of B12 deficiency on the central and peripheral nervous systems,” said Christine.
You might get frequent headaches if your vitamin B12 levels are too high. Elevated levels of this vitamin can also cause gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. You may feel tired and weak.
Common causes include inner ear problems, medicines, infections, and traumatic brain injury. These disorders can occur at any age. But they are most common as you get older. Treatment depends on the underlying cause and can include medicine, rehabilitation, and lifestyle changes.
How to raise your B12 levels fast. The most common way to treat B12 deficiencies is by adjusting your diet. If this is unsuccessful, vitamin supplements may be recommended. If you're looking to boost the amount of vitamin B12 in your diet, you should eat more animal products, like meat, seafood, dairy and eggs.
It may take a few weeks before your vitamin B12 levels and symptoms (such as extreme tiredness or lack of energy) start to improve. If you have hydroxocobalamin injections to boost your vitamin B12 levels at the start of treatment, the cyanocobalamin tablets may start to work within a few days.
“Vitamin B12 deficiency is easy to detect and treat, but is an often overlooked cause of dizziness,” he notes. Ask your doctor about having a simple blood test to check your B12 levels if you're having dizzy spells. Good sources of vitamin B12 include meat, dairy products, and fortified breakfast cereals.
Dizziness has many possible causes, including inner ear disturbance, motion sickness and medication effects. Sometimes it's caused by an underlying health condition, such as poor circulation, infection or injury. The way dizziness makes you feel and your triggers provide clues for possible causes.
Dizziness is a common symptom of vitamin D deficiency, along with fatigue and brain fog. If you are feeling dizzy all the time, it is worth checking your vitamin D levels. Insufficient vitamin D can cause dizziness because it plays a role in maintaining blood pressure and fluid balance.
B12 deficiency can also lead to nerve and brain damage. This damage may manifest in symptoms such as brain fog, memory problems, fatigue, depression, muscle fatigue and tingling in the extremities.
There are certain foods that also need a cut-down in case of vitamin B12 deficiency. “Some foods and drinks can interfere with vitamin B complex intake like alcohol, caffeine and processed foods, etc should be avoided completely,” Shah added.
Inadequate dietary intake
A balanced diet typically provides sufficient vitamin B12; however, strict vegans and people with a poor diet are at higher risk of developing a deficiency. Good sources of vitamin B12 include: Meat. Fish.
Recovery from vitamin B12 deficiency takes time. You may not have any improvement during the first few months of treatment. Improvement may be gradual and may continue for up to six to 12 months.
Common causes of dizziness include medication side effects; infections or other disorders of the inner ear; tumors; a stroke that occurs in the back of the brain; Ménière's disease, which attacks a nerve important in balance and hearing; benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, when tiny crystals in the inner ear become ...
Depersonalization symptoms
Symptoms of depersonalization include: Feelings that you're an outside observer of your thoughts, feelings, your body or parts of your body — for example, as if you were floating in air above yourself. Feeling like a robot or that you're not in control of your speech or movements.
There are a lot of other drugs that can impair vitamin B12 status; metformin (to treat diabetes), antibiotics, methotrexate (used in chemotherapy), colchicine (used to treat gout), anti-seizure medications (i.e. phenytoin, pirimidone), and a group of cholesterol-lowering drugs (i.e. cholestyramine).
Several commercially available test kits allow you to collect a sample for vitamin B12 testing at home. Some kits test only your vitamin B12 level. Others test B12 in combination with other vitamins, and there are at-home micronutrient test kits that include B12 in the panel.
Bananas are a cheap, healthy, and nutrient-dense fruit that can easily become a part of every individual's diet. It is one of the best fruits rich in vitamin B12.